The Bourne Ultimatum - Five Frame Evaluation

We have been asked to analyse the first five frames of an inspirational opening sequence, of our choice.

We choose to analyse The Bourne Ultimatum because it was a good opening that introduced a character. We found it very difficult to find a film that opened in a similar way to ours. Although this is probably a good issue, it causes problems when wishing to find inspiration. Bourne Ultimatum succeeds in introducing a character and uses some close-up shots, much the same as we would like to do in Times Up.

Frame One - This is a mid-close up shot of the main character (played by Matt Damon) walking down a crowded street. The audience are made aware that he is a significant, if not central character because he is within the main third of the frame. The use of focus pull (blurring out the extra people in the background) enhances the sense that the character is to be focused upon. This has worked well to establish his power and importance in the upcoming film.There is little sound, just a voice over a man voice asking, 'Who am I?' A simple cut is used to edit between the two frames. The mise-en-scene of a well known setting allows the audience to relate to the character and create a sense of reliability or sympathy.

Frame Two - The next frame is an over the shoulder shot, looking at a computer screen with a picture of the character featured in the first frame. A female voice says, 'They gave you so many idendities' in a cold fashion. The direct cut from Frame One to Frame Two allows the audience to see the stark realistic contrast between what seems to be an unwatched situation to a clinical and clearly worrying setting. After allowing the audience to build a slight relationship with the character, a sense of anger or mis-trust at the woman seems to occur.

Frame Three - The third shot shows the face of the original character (Matt Damon). The characters expression is extremely confused and concerned, the audience will immediately be drawn into the situation occurring in this frame. This is an over the shoulder close up shot; it allows the audience to connect to the raw emotions in the scene and lets the audience engage with both the character and the situation he is in.Then the woman lists a group of names, 'Kane, Lee, Bourne'. This is probably not immediately obvious as a list of identities, but the audience are supposed to have made the connection between the comment made by the same voice earlier.

Frame Four - A shot reverse shot following the previous frame features here, this is (as with all the other shots, directly cut to.) This conveys the physical conversation between the man (Matt Damon) and the woman, but also allows the audience to begin to put her face to the voice that they have been listening too. The shot is fairly close up; the woman seems to be sharing the same concern - perhaps reasoning the cause for a close-up shot. Another possibility for the degree of the shot is to to convey the intimacy and importance of the current situation. The tension is broken by the woman speech; "You were one of the first one's in the program".

Frame Five - The final frame is also cut to using a direct cut edit. This is repeated shot-reverse-shot of the male character (Matt Damon), responding to the womans speech. The proximity and depth of the shot create a similar sense of emotion and responsibility for the character as previously. He looks up in shock - this gives some explanation to the line delivered in the previous frame, it was obviously information that he wished to be kept confidential. The frame quickly cuts to the 'Universal Pictures' introduction; thus allowing the audience to understand that the film has began.